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Eli comes of age

By Dan Ralph

Eli Manning couldn’t have picked a better time to play the best football of his young career.

The New York Giants quarterback has been one of the big stories of the NFL playoffs, his near-flawless play a big reason why the surprising Giants are in the Super Bowl preparing to face the undefeated New England Patriots.

The younger brother of Colts superstar Peyton Manning has often been a frustrating player, given his penchant for making mistakes at the most inopportune time. This season was pretty much the same as the rest for the former first-round draft pick, who completed 297-of-529 passes (56.1 per cent average) for 3,365 yards with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He was also sacked 27 times.

But almost miraculously, it seems Manning came of age Dec. 29. That day, he completed 22-of-32 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns in a thrilling 38-35 loss to New England as the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to complete a 17-game regular season with an unblemished 17-0 record. More impressive, though, was that the contest meant nothing to New York, which had already sewn up an NFC playoff spot and head coach Tom Coughlin was expected to maybe play Manning and the other starters for about a half before giving them the rest of the afternoon off.

However, Coughlin opted to stick with his starter for the entire game, and was rewarded with the Giants holding a 12-point lead over the heavily favoured Patriots before New England successfully mounted the comeback.

In the weeks leading up to that game, it was Manning’s unpredictable play was the biggest threat to the Giants championship aspirations. Now, though, it’s his play that has been a big reason why the club is back in the Super Bowl.

Manning has led the Giants to three road playoff wins by not making mistakes. He has four touchdown passes in the postseason with no interceptions. Take in the regular-season final versus New England and Manning has eight touchdown passes against just one interception in his last four contests.

And last weekend in Green Bay, Manning not only beat the Packers but also the elements. On a frigid evening, the former Ole Miss star out-duelled veteran Brett Favre and led New York to a stunning 21-17 road win at Lambeau Field, proving he could succeed in bad weather.

Manning finished 21-of-40 passing for 251 yards with no touchdowns. Grant, not exactly stellar numbers, but still impressive given the cold, below-zero conditions. More importantly, Manning didn’t do anything negative to cost his team the game. Rather, his methodical, almost calculated play was a big reason why the Giants were able to control the ball and the line of scrimmage en route to their victory over Green Bay.

Such play was indeed surprising from a player who had three interceptions returned for touchdowns in a lopsided 41-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 25. And who can forget the Giants beating Buffalo 38-21 on Dec. 23 in spite of Manning, who was 7-of -15 passing for 111 yards with two interceptions and also had two fumbles. And prior to the regular-season finale against New England, Manning had shown no signs of turning things around and gave precious little indication that a light had seemingly gone on. The mistakes he was making this year were essentially the same ones he had made in 2005 and ‘06, prompting many to wonder just when he would finally realize the promise so many felt he had.

However, for the last three weeks Manning has led the Giants, not beaten them with untimely mistakes. He has formed a deadly partnership with wideout Plaxico Burress and also shown a penchant for making the right decision went to throw the ball away and when to look to Burress for the big catch.

And twice against Green Bay did Manning move the Giants into position for a go-head field goal in the fourth quarter, only to see kicker Lawrence Tynes miss attempts. But the third time was the charm as in overtime Manning got Tynes close enough to connect from 47 yards out and give New York a 23-20 win.

Manning has also shown a patience with the Giants offence that’s been a long time in coming. There’s a realization now that with New York’s stellar defence, Manning and Co. can afford to be a bit more conservative in their approach and rely more on the run and short passing attack and not be afraid to play a tighter, closer game. That poise under pressure has quashed talk that Manning couldn’t play well in a big game.

However, that hasn't deterred oddsmakers who have made the Giants decided two-touchdown underdogs to New England, the fourth-highest opening point spread in the Super Bowl's 42-year history. The largest point spread was 18 points in 1969 when the New York Jets faced the Baltimore Colts in Miami. Of course, that's the game Jets quarterback Joe Namath boldly guaranteed his team would win, then proceeded to lead New York to the 16-7 upset.

There will be no such brash prediction from Manning. But if he can lead New York to victory, it will undoubtedly be a much bigger upset than Namath guiding the Jets past the Colts nearly 40 years ago. That's the game which defined Namath's career, as it would Manning's if he could do the same.